Modular creel



July 1, 1969 H. D. THURMAN' MODULAR CREEL Filed July 7, 1967 INVENTORHoyt D. Thurman ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,452,947 MODULAR CREELHoyt Dean Thurman, Chattanooga, Tenn., assignor to The Singer Company,New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 7, 1967, Ser. No.651,867 Int. Cl. D02h 1/00; B65h 49/02; D03j 5/08 US. Cl. 242-131 11Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to creels foruse with textile machinery or the like. Creels of the type disclosedherein are normally used for supporting a plurality of yarn cones inorder to provide a supply of yarn for a textile machine in a mannerwhich permits substantially continuous operation of the machine byfeeding the yarns from the storage space provided by the creel in apredetermined orderly fashion. When such creels are used with textilemachinery, such as tufting machinery or the like, the creels may storeas many as two thousand yarn cones. The disclosure particularly relatesto a creel which is of novel and improved construction and serves toincrease the efliciency of the textile processes to which it is related.

Brief summary of invention This invention relates to creels for use withtextile machinery, such as tufting machines or the like, andparticularly relates to a novel and improved creel construction which iseasily and relatively rapidly assembled and occupies a minimum amount offloor space. The creel of the invention is of modular constructioncontaining individual modules selected from standard sizes and which arereadily detachable from one another. Due to the novel construction ofthe creel of the invention, a relatively large creel can be assembled onsite in a relatively short time as opposed to prior known creels whichrequired custom engineering and installation at the location. Further,the creel of the invention provides a novel yarn cone supportarrangement and yarn feed arrangement which permits a substantiallyreduction in the overall space required for the creel assembly, ascompared to prior known creels containing like numbers of yarn cones.Thus, through the present invention, a creel can be relatively rapidlyassembled in a minimum amount of space at the location without requiringa substantial amount of custom engineering at the location prior toconstruction thereof.

Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to provide a novel andimproved creel construction for use with textile machinery.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel and improvedmodular creel construction.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel and improvedcreel construction which is made up of individual modules and can berelatively rapidly assembled.

It, is still another object of the invention to provide a novel andimproved creel construction wherein the yarn supporting and feedarrangements are such that the space occupied by the creel constructionis minimized.

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It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel andimproved creel wherein the construction and arrangement of the creel issuch that maximum convenience is provided for loading or unloading yarncones from the yarn suporting means carried by said creel.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be best understoodwhen reading the following detailed description with the accompanyingdrawing wherein:

Brief description of the drawing FIGURE 1 is a partial explodedperspective view of a preferred embodiment of the creel of theinvention; and

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged partial perspective view of the creel shown inFIGURE 1.

Detailed description of the invention Referring to FIGURE 1, the creelshown therein is made up of a plurality of individual interconnectedmodules comprising a pair of upright or vertical support members 10,horizontal interconnecting support members 12 and a vertical creel post14 including a plurality of yarn cone holders 16. The vertical supportmembers 10 and the horizontal support members 12 are interconnected byreadily detachable connecting members 18 through which the individualsupport members may be snapped together in a readily detachable fashion.If desired, the connecting members 18 may include set screws or the liketo insure tight interconnection between said support members or maycomprise known-type snap connection means. Each module may beinterconnected with a second module by horizontal support members 20 toprovide an individual creel section.

As illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, the yarn creel post 14 may contain asingle stack of yarn cone holders 16 or a double stack of yarn coneholders facing in opposite directions, such as illustrated by the yarncreel post 14'. As further shown in FIGURE 1, a yarn creel sectioncomprising two interconnecting modules may be constructed to include astack of 6 vertically spaced yarn cone holders 16 or may comprise acreel section including a yarn creel post having three verticallystacked yarn cone holders 16 as illustrated at the upper portion ofFIGURE 1. Obviously, the stacks may be constructed in other members ofcone holders, if desired. In the creel shown in FIGURE 1 it will beapparent that each of the horizontal support members 12 and 20 for boththe six cone holder creel section or the three cone holder creel sectionwill be standard components with only the length of the vertical supportmembers 10 and the yarn creel post 14 varying in size. Also, theconnecting members 18 will be standard for all size creel sections.

Again referring to FIGURE 1 it will be seen that when a plurality ofmodules are assembled into interconnecting creel sections, an aisle wayA is provided between adjacent and parallel creel sections forpermitting easy access to said creel sections so that the yarn coneholders 16 may be readily loaded with yarn cones 24 for storing yarn tobe used by the associated textile machine. Further, it will also be seenthat each of the creel sections made up of the individual modules hasits sides, parallel to the aisle way completely open for easy access tothe yarn cone holders 16. As is known for example in the tuftingindustry the yarn cone holders are often serviced by women who mustcontinually replenish the supply of yarn to the yarn cone holders.Further, the yarn cones themselves may weigh as much as eleven pounds apiece or more which may present some difficulty if easy access to theyarn support holders 16 is not available. In the prior art type creels,easy access was not always available and presented some difficulty forthe person servicing the creel who is required to lift the heavy yarnpackages and replenish the supply thereof. In the present invention, aspointed out above, the creels are completely open at each side and theperson servicing the creels may walk through the aisleway and have easyaccess to one side of each of the adjacent creel sections withoutrequiring the bending over or reaching between any support members whichmay represent obstacles in replenshing the yarn supply.

Referring to FIGURE 2, it will be seen therein that each yarn coneholder 16 comprises a substantially U- shaped member fixedly connectedby suitable means to a yarn creel post 14 or 14. Each yarn cone holder16 is adapted to receive two yarn cones 24 thereon (FIG. 2). If desired,the leg portions 26 of the yarn cone holders 16 may include a yarnpackage holder for further supporting the yarn cone 24, as for examplethat shown in United States Patent No. 3,111,288, issued on Nov. 19,1963.

The creel of the invention also provides a novel yarn cone suportingarrangement and feed arrangements which permits a substantial reductionin the overall space required by the creel. Referring to FIGURE 2, itwill be seen that in each creel section, yarn creel posts 14 and 14' arerespectively disposed at each end thereof with their yarn cone holdersdisposed in facing relationship. Preferably, the yarn cone holders 16 ofone creel post are vertically spaced such that they are in slightoverlapping relationship with the yarn cone supporter holders 16 of theyarn creel post at the other end of the creel section. As shown inphantom lines in FIG. 2 the yarn cones 24 are disposed in pairs on eachyarn cone holder 16 with the forward or lead end of the yarn of one ofthe yarn cones 24 being fed to a yarn creel post 14 or 14' at theopposite end of the creel section and then passes through a yarn guideand up the creel post to the tufting machine in a known maner. Thetrailing end of the yarn on the feeding yarn cone 24 is attached to thelead end of the other yarn cone 24 of the pair supported on each yarncone holder 16. In this manner, as one yarn cone holder is depleted ofits supply the second yarn cone will immediately begin to feed to themachine. Thus the operator merely need replace the depleted yarn coneand attach the lead end to the trailing end of the yarn cone now beingfed to the tufting machine. Further, with reference to FIGURE 2, it willbe seen that the yarn cones are fed in opposite directions to each otherand in overlapping facing relationship. By this arrangement, each creelsection can support oposite facing pairs of yarn cones in relativelyclose relationship so that each creel section occupies a substantialless space for feeding the same amount of yarn than compared to priorknown creels in the art. As pointed out and seen in FIGURE 2, the conearrangement of the invention not only saves substantial amounts ofspace, but the arrangement places the yarn cones relatively close to thecreel operator for ease and convenience of loading the yarn cones ontheir respective cone holders.

Prior to the invention of the present creel embodiment, it was necessarythat much engineering time be spent at the location wherein the creelwas to be installed for measuring the provided space for the creel andthen designing a creel to fit the location as a custom installation. Dueto the standarzation of many of the parts of the creel invention hereinand the fact that the creel may be readily easily assembled because ofits modular and detachable construction, a supply of creel parts may beshipped to the location and assembled in relatively rapid time in theallocated space.

Further, and of prime importance, because of the arrangement of the yarnsupports and feed, the creel of the invention may be assembled inrelatively minimum space thus permitting a substantial reduction inengineering tme and occupation of prime floor space.

While the invention has been described in its preferred embodiment, itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modificationsand changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis:

1. A creel for use with tufting machines or the like including aplurality of creel modules disposed in assembled relationship to form acreel section, a plurality of vertically spaced cone support membersfixed to a support member of each module and disposed on each end ofeach said creel section with the cone support members disposed on eachend thereof facing the cone support members on the other of said endsand extending in a direction substantially toward the center of saidcreel section, and said creel section having its sides substantiallyparallel to the direction of extension of said cone support members freefrom any obstruction for providing free access to each of said conesupport members from each side of said creel section.

2. A creel is recited in claim 1 wherein said creel section is composedof a plurality of readily detachable support members.

3. A creel is recited in claim 1 wherein said creel section includes aplurality of horizontal and vertical support members with eachhorizontal and vertical support member being of the same length as eachof the other respective horizontal and vertical support members.

4. A creel as recited in claim 3 wherein said horizontal and verticalsupport members are interconnected by means of interconecting memberswith said interconnecting members each having equal sized receivingopenings therein for receiving the respective horizontal and verticalsupport members.

5. A creel as recited in claim 1 further including a plurality of saidcreel section disposed in assembled relationship and an aislewaydisposed between adjacent creel sections and extending in a directionparallel to the facing sides of the adjacent creel sections.

6. A creel as recited in claim 1 wherein the cone support members oneach end of said creel section are vertically spaced with the verticalspacing of the cone support members of one end being disposed such thatyarn cones supported thereon will be spaced intermediate of the spacingof the yarn cones supported on the other end thereof.

7. A creel for use with tufting machines or the like comprising aplurality of vertical and horizontal support members, a plurality ofvertically Spaced cone support members supported at each end of saidcreel with said cone support members being disposed in facingrelationship in a direction toward the center of said creel, each saidcone support members being adapted for receiving a yarn cone thereon,and each end of said creel including yarn receiving means for receivinga yarn end from a yarn cone disposed on a cone support member at theother of said ends, said yarn receiving means at each end beingvertically spaced and spaced from the cone support members at itsrespective end such that the yarn feed from each end of said creel willbe in overlapping relationship with the yarn feed from the other end ofsaid creel whereby the cone support members at each end of said creelmay be placed in relatively close relationship while providing anorderly feed of yarn from said creel.

8. A creel as recited in claim 7 wherein said vertical and horizontalsupport members are disposed relative to one another so that each sideof said creel is free of any obstruction for providing easy access tosaid cone support members.

9. A creel as recited in claim 7 wherein each vertical and horizontalsupport member is of equal size as each other respective vertical andhorizontal support member.

10'. A creel as recited in claim 7 wherein said creel is of modularconstruction including a pair of interconnected modules.

11. A creel as recited in claim 9 further comprising readily detachableconnector means for interconnecting said vertical and horizontal supportmembers with said connector means being adapted for receiving additionalvertical and horizontal support members so that the size of said creelmay be readily enlarged.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,013,770 9/1935 Stein et al242-131.1 3,150,845 9/1964 Pool 242l31 LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, PrimaryExaminer US. Cl. X.R. 242-l39

